In the Shadow of the Moonlight
by Otter than most
Summary: We all deal with stress and boredom in different ways. Some of us plant gardens others paint pictures, but for one pony stealing is his passion. This along with a life long want of attention, helped to create the biggest crime spree in Equestrian history.
1. Chapter 1 First Success

In the Shadow of the Moonlight

Ch1 First Success

"I love the night" The dark stallion whispered to himself as he slowly approached the sleepy cottage. Hoof steps falling silently among the grass, he slowly surveyed the small town of Trottingham. It seemed different at night; the sleepy town was now in complete silence, all the windows dark and not a pony around. Dusk had planned this night for countless weeks. The excitement he felt threatened to make him shout in joy, but he knew shouting now would ruin the whole adventure before it had even begun.

"This should be interesting" Dusk thought to himself as he climbed through the window. The same window that he had earlier unlocked as he came over to buy tea from the general store he was about to dupe. The target would be a family heirloom, a certain tea pot with an interesting red floral design. There was nothing of real value about it but it did seem hundreds of years old so its disappearance wouldn't go unnoticed.

As he began crawling through the small opening he felt a tug on his black cloak. "Why did a bring a cloak" he murmured angrily to himself, he already was dark as could be on this moonless night, his deep purple fur seemed to absorb the little light around him, the little bit of star light radiating from the starry sky, making his movements seem more like a living shadow then a physical creature. The cloak would provide no extra protection if he was caught and the only reason he took it was because of the fact that it made him feel a little bit more like an actual thief rather then a petty felon. It also matched well with is dark mane.

He moved to detach the burden, but then again he could use it to bundle the ancient pot with. No point of stealing something if he just drops and breaks it against the floor or the dirt. Instead he gave it a few tugs till it came loose from the rose bush growing by the side of the windowsill it had caught on. He fell onto the cold floor with a muffled *Whump* and quickly hid himself from the approaching face of Mr. Earlgrey who owned the shop and lived in the second story that rested on top of it.

In the few seconds of pause between heavy breaths Dusk suddenly felt aware of his surroundings. He no longer felt the bitter cold of this winter night. He saw the white puffs of warm air coming from his snout. He became aware of the counter he had taken refuge covered was about 6 hooves from both the door and the open window meaning he had multiple escape routes if one was to prove to be blocked. He heard every small creak in the wood, every chirp of the crickets, the wind brushing the rose bush against the window sill. He could smell the lingering sent of tea, the same brew he had smelled earlier when he entered the store that very day. All this he became aware of. But sound he dreaded most, the sound of steady and loud hoof steps coming from the stairs never came.

Dusk lost track of how long he waited there. He saw paralyzed behind the granite counter a state of fear and awe. Never before has he felt such understanding of his surroundings, of the minuscule details in things he had never seen before. He smiled slyly to himself, and whispered to the darkness around him "Now this is an adventure".

The pot was located on the second floor, in the room Earlgrey slept in. Dusk made his way stealthily taking step by step up the stairs careful to listen from any squeaks or creaks coming from the floor boards that may give away his presence. He made his way across the dark hallway into the room he knew to be Earlgrey's. He opened the door to find a closet with a broom and bucket and some towels. Dusk sat there puzzled

"This should be his room… I think." He mumbled to himself, as he continued to check all the other nearby doors. After finding the bathroom, a study, and a small guest room, and then finally finding his objective.

The room Earlgrey slept in was small, the bed lying against the back wall only left about a full grown pony length of space between it and the doorway. The ancient pot was on the shelf to the right of the door. Dusk made his way into the small space between the bed and exit while Rubino slept snoring loudly, with his back to the door. Dusk crept over quietly to the shelf, his goal within reach when suddenly there was a loud crash.

The broom from the closet had apparently fallen over, no doubt pushed by one of the many rodents which infested the shop and Dusk stud paralyzed once more this time in disbelief over his terrible luck and slowly turned to find the waiting eyes of an awake and disgruntled stallion. He was not mistaken as those eyes now rested upon him as he stood there wondering if he should run or just confess the whole thing now and beg for mercy.

But before he could do either, Rubino simply shrugged said something to himself about "damn rats" and went back to snoring so loudly it was surprising he could have heard the fallen broom at all. Dusk was bewildered. Those eyes looked straight at him, almost matching his exactly but somehow they failed to see the thief no more than a few feet from his bed. Was the old pony blind? Did he just dismiss Dusk as a dream? Was there something else going on that he didn't know about? All these questions and more Dusk wanted to ask, but with no pony the answer him he grabbed the pot, bundled it in his slightly torn cloak and made his way back down the stairs and back through the open window.

He did it, he just stole something. Dusk couldn't wait for tomorrow's paper, he could see the headline now "Local store robbed by unknown mysterious thief" and they would talk about how he left no evidence and how they have no leads onto who this mysterious pony was. He smiled proudly as he gazed at his slightly tacky prize. Now he just had to stash it until part two of his plan. He could just stash it in his cottage for now back in town, later he would need a much safer place to stash his loot but for now as long as he stayed small he could just keep it in the attic.

"Tomorrow might just be a good day" The excited stallion said, nearly jumping in joy back to his tiny little shack he called home. He hadn't had a good day in a long time and it would be nice to be able to wake up for once where he didn't feel like leaving society forever and moving into the ever free forest. With giggles and smiles he laid himself to rest, unable to wait for all the fuss over his first success on what he hoped would be the biggest crime spree in equestrian history.


	2. Chapter 2 A Disappointing Morning

Ch2 A Disappointing Morning

Andres awoke from his sleepless slumber as he slowly dragged himself out of bed. Andres never liked mornings and the fact that today was Monday didn't help much either. Sometimes it was hard to get up and get to work every day and thoughts about leaving town and society forever grew more and more frequent with each passing day. But today there was a reason to get up. Today would be his day in the spot light, although no one could know it was him, as the new master thief and most wanted pony in Equestria. With slow, sluggish movements Andres worked to make himself a decent breakfast before heading off into town to go back to work as a clerk at the local bank.

On his way he kept his ears open to hear what everypony was talking about and eyes open for a newspaper stand, the local one being the Trottingham Star. Along the way he heard conversations about the price of fish, the upcoming Winter Rap up festival, and even one or two about surprise parties planned for friends and upcoming dances. But no one was talking about his amazing and daring robbery last night.

As he continued to walk through town, he came across his friends Anon and Merlee. Perhaps friends was a strong word, Andres really didn't have any "Friends" but there were those whose acquaintance he preferred more than others. He stopped to give them a formal "Good day" or a "Hey guys what's happening" but all that escaped his lips was a soft "hello…"

The stallion and mare looked at him with amusement and Andres felt a ping of embarrassment. Here he wasn't Dusk the master thief, here he was Andres the gray haired and off color black mane stallion who could barely speak in coherent sentences, who had difficulty walking in a straight line outdoors, and whose own shadow seemed as though the sun itself was trying to ignore his existence. The only reason these ponies even acknowledged they knew him is that he met them at a night time social, otherwise known as a "party" and was able to make a good impression on them.

Anon was a loud mouth Pegasus whose idea of a good time included pulling mischief on ponies he didn't like and even more on ponies he did. Then when that was over, he spent the rest of his day bragging to everyone about what he did earlier and every single detail about how he set it up and what the intended outcome was and if he was going to do it again. He was not the best flyer ever seen, but it was rumored that he could talk so fast his mouth could break the sound barrier.

One of his more famous pranks included replacing Elliot Cuisine's (a local chef who worked at the deli in town) peanut butter with a spicy mustard sauce, causing every dish that included peanut butter to earn a three fire rating for heat and caused the ponies that ordered them to run out of the deli with a mouth full of flame. Oddly enough most came back and had another one and the spicy mustard sandwich was now one of the most popular local dishes in town. Needless to say this was not the outcome Anon had expected and soon he went on to claim that it was him that had started the whole thing. Not surprisingly no one believed him, except Merlee and Andres of course. Upon his flank a cutie mark of a brush rested, representing his talent for painting and portraits. A talent which he used mostly to make some of the finest graffiti in Equestria.

Andres has never been sure why Merlee hung out with the two stallions, Andres being a slow witted, somewhat depressed pony and Anon being a loud mouth and obsessive compulsive prankster. He supposed Merlee could relate to him since both felt like a little out of place in society. Merlee liked to wear all dark colors (her favorite being a dark velvet red and rich purples which contrasted her bright pink skin to no end.) Her mane was dyed a dark blue, or at least it was today. The color of her mane changed as often as the weather and even when she chose a color everyone liked she would immediately change it as soon as she saved up enough bits for a different color of mane dye. She spoke with a soft, slightly harsh voice making every word seem like she was somehow disappointed in whatever action you just performed. Her favorite activities seemed to include sulking, grumbling, dyeing her mane, and enjoying the pain and misfortune of others. Since Anon usually caused that misfortune to others it was slightly easier to see how they tolerated one another, Anon's cheerfulness seemingly canceling out Merlee's darkness and pessimism. On the few times Andres saw her without a giant dark robe around her, hiding her from society's judgment, she had a glass bowl cutie mark, which confused Andres since he has never seen her make glass in the short time he has known her.

They were probably the only ponies aware of his split personality during night and day, which was discovered the first time they met at that fateful celebration. Dusk still remembered that evening. It was a fear years back, back when he didn't have anybody outside of family that he conversed with. It was a Friday night and the sun was setting on what was the Winter Wrap up celebration. He had arrived to help set up some of the tables and snacks for the ponies coming to have a fun night out with friends. Andres of course never liked social gatherings as he always seemed to be excluded from every group, even the nerds. This was the night he met Anon and Merlee and he still remembered their first adventure.


End file.
